Robotech - Southern Cross Adventure

[D. Rex]

"Max it is then. And dont worry, I'll keep it here. And I can understand that stiffness. Here though, when we are dealing with a hundred different things with names that are a hundred letters long, talking about everything in shorthand keeps the tongue from having a stroke." Seriously, the fellows who come up with long complicated name for engineering parts had to have been paid by the letter.

Marlon rolled up his sleeves and dived into the arm of the Mecha. First to see what he was dealing with. And what sort of damage there was to the innards. Armor may help, but slag and shrapnel can easily get inside and do some major damage. Still, he would apply what he knew to help Max get this job done as smoothly as possible.


"I heard. And those would have been really useful right about now. But that software... that, that would be some really advanced point defense. Hot damn. I would love to have seen that in action... but how exclusive is that software to what it can be used with? Shouldn't we be worried about it getting used against us?" He asked.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Alissa does just that. She finds scrubs to put on over her clothes. She takes extra time washing up and scrubbing her hands and skin. When she’s finished, she finds the charts and starts going through them, finding patients—diagnosing and treating as best she can.

The work provides a sense of calm and place. Alissa feels as though she fits in and can make some kind of difference here. Each patient she works with, she does her best to listen. But, there are many wounded and sick. She works efficiently with as much haste as the work will allow.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan gives a nod to the LT, then slides into the seat and powers up the terminal. Lets see what I can find out. What are the giants up to? She opens up several different screens, using various search parameters to try and get an idea of what the next target may be.
Intelligence 73%

 

[Psychie]

Rykon What is Alan going to do during this time?

 

[Rykon]

Like Marlon, Alan would report to Lt. Danfield for orders. "Aye there Lieutenant Dan." He hollered with a bit of a friendly familiar tone. "I'm here to help as well, but I ain't much of an engineer or electrician. I am trained in armory though. I'm more than happy to help with if the extra hands won't be in your way." Despite what training he had, Alan fully expected to be on deck for heavy lifting, which seemed just fine to him. If he wasn't here helping with repairs, he'd be working out in the rec room or playing combat simulation games. Might as well make his workout productive.

 

[Psychie]

Like Marlon, Alan would report to Lt. Danfield for orders. "Aye there Lieutenant Dan." He hollered with a bit of a friendly familiar tone. "I'm here to help as well, but I ain't much of an engineer or electrician. I am trained in armory though. I'm more than happy to help with if the extra hands won't be in your way." Despite what training he had, Alan fully expected to be on deck for heavy lifting, which seemed just fine to him. If he wasn't here helping with repairs, he'd be working out in the rec room or playing combat simulation games. Might as well make his workout productive.

While Alan may be pretty buff, you are given the use of a power loader to lift missile after missile up and into the empty racks on the Spartans and the Tomahawks. The replacement shells for the VHTs will still have to be fed into the auto loader one at a time, though. Soon enough, you look up to see that several hours have gone in the blink of an eye, and you are getting quite hungry and tired from the long day. But the good news is that everyone's mecha is now fully armed once more.

"I heard. And those would have been really useful right about now. But that software... that, that would be some really advanced point defense. Hot damn. I would love to have seen that in action... but how exclusive is that software to what it can be used with? Shouldn't we be worried about it getting used against us?" He asked.

Working along side Max is a real learning experience. This is a man that knows his stuff, and he seems to be very pleased to teach you a few tricks that only come with working in the field for many years. With your question, he points over at the Defender Destroid. "You see the gun arms on that baby? Those are what we have on our walls.

Spoiler: Defender Destroid

"Those guns are great, but without the targeting system that the Defender has in the radar mast on top, they wouldn't be worth nearly as much. I am guessing that with the missing software, it could be adapted to other weapon systems. But that would take some serious computer savvy to rework the program to deal with the new weapon it's attached to, and no offense to our allied Zentraedi buddies, but the ones in the Zone we are dealing with are not the best mechanics or computer programmers out there. Even so, only three of the special Sentinel Air Defense packages were taken. With only three guns for their whole renegade army, it won't make much of a difference. Hand me that welder, will ya?"

Over the course of several hours, the hard working group of technicians have completed the repairs on the mecha. The slap-and-weld jobs are not going to win any beauty contests, but the armor is sound and the Tanks can transform into all three modes.

Alissa does just that. She finds scrubs to put on over her clothes. She takes extra time washing up and scrubbing her hands and skin. When she’s finished, she finds the charts and starts going through them, finding patients—diagnosing and treating as best she can.

The work provides a sense of calm and place. Alissa feels as though she fits in and can make some kind of difference here. Each patient she works with, she does her best to listen. But, there are many wounded and sick. She works efficiently with as much haste as the work will allow.

The sight and smell of so many wounded men and women is enough to give Alissa the shakes for a few moments, just enough to throw you off of your game and you find yourself nearly killing a man with a overdose of painkillers. You got the dosage wrong, and you just barely caught yourself before giving the lethal shot. After a few deep breaths to compose yourself, things go much smoother for you.

It doesn't take you long to realize that your near miss was seen by Dr. Lawrence, and once you have gotten past that, she gives you a little nod, as if to say its ok. She will occasionally check on your work, but seems to be satisfied with what she sees.

Deunan gives a nod to the LT, then slides into the seat and powers up the terminal. Lets see what I can find out. What are the giants up to? She opens up several different screens, using various search parameters to try and get an idea of what the next target may be.
Intelligence 73%

Diving into the computer, several things keep bothering you. First, the attack on Anton-17. The Zentraedi attacked a BSURP out of nowhere, showing their ability to move a large amount of troops and material to the front lines without being seen from the ground or the air. Why give the RDF and ASC any clue as to their ability to do so, if they weren't planning on leaving no witnesses? All that would have had to happen is the loss of the main radio tower and the air and artillery strike wouldn't have been able to be called in.

Why didn't the Zentraedi take out the tower? Why was the only damage done to the base proper was just a few scorch marks on the walls - except for the three towers that were damaged and their guns destroyed?

Second, there were a total of six heavy trucks, some were hauling two or three trailers behind them, but other than a few shots aimed at the defense forces that missed their marks and accidentally hit a transport, there was only one trailer to be taken. Witnesses in the middle of the convoy are all in agreement that the two Male Powered Armor units never fired a shot, possibly to avoid calling attention to themselves, and they made a direct line to that one trailer and took it away. After that happened, the rest of the attacking force pulled back and retreated out of sight.

Did the Zentraedi know what was inside the trailer? If so, how? Even if they might suspect that there were replacement parts for the air defense guns on the wall being sent out, they could have been in any of the trailers, or even in a different convoy all together.

All the Zentraedi that have been talked to about this High Lord Taniya, both allied and interrogated prisoners, all agree that she is one very brilliant tactician, borderline genius in her Iq. She would not have ordered this attack if there wasn't some benefit to her. Then it clicks. She made the attack for the sole reason of getting her hands on those guns, and has someone on the inside somewhere that was able to clue her in as to when and where to have her troops to make the snatch. It was the only explanation that fits. The only question is, why? What good can three air defense guns be? Yes, they are top rate, but there are only three of them. Its not like they have enough to equip hundreds of Battle Pods with them, so why?

Spoiler

If it weren't for that '8' you rolled on the third one, I'd have left you to figure that out on your own.

 

[D. Rex]

Marlon paid full attention to max's tricks. Ones he intended to adhere to memory. Step by step instructions in manuals were all well and good, but an engineer was more than glorified Lego builder. You weren't always given all the tools you needed, not always had the best conditions to work or have the right tools for the job. Learning the ways to work around that was an engineer's real bread and butter. So to watch a much more experienced engineer do his work was a real treat. And Marlon was all to willing to learn.

Marlon nodded as he as he listened about the guns and destroid. "Hmm. Well maybe aren't wanting to equip them... maybe they are look to counter it. Well at least we have the defenders left. Though, if we had guns on the base already. What made the air defense packages so special?" He asked.

Marlon handed Max the welder and face shield. Getting back to the work at hand.


When all was done, he was satisfied with the work. He couldn't stay out all day. After these few hours, it was probably wisest to meet back up with the sergeant and get some rest. Like she said, they were tankers first. He also planned to report about what he learned. To Marlon... he didn't suspect the guns would make much difference. Zentraedi had plenty of firepower. It was the targeting system that he was suspecting that they wanted. Maybe these "malcontents" didn't have a dedicated engineering or computer team out here. But this giantess lady was smart one. And it wouldn't be smart of her to have only dummies as minions. That is assuming that this particular outbreak of Zentraedi was isolated. There could always be somebody else who did have those resources backing her.


He would excuse himself from the lieutenant, offering to be back next time he had the chance.

Right now, Marlon was going to go find Deunan.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan sits back in her seat, feeling like a bolt of lightning had just hit her. The guns are not the target; they were just a nice by product. There are just not enough of them to make any difference. But there is no way that this hot-shit High Lord snatched the trailer by mistake. She went through a lot of effort to get those guns out here, for what?

She sits for a moment longer, then lets out a gasp. The software! That has to be it! The RDF has maintained air superiority over the Zone with both Veritechs and fixed wing fighters, and has eyes on the place constantly from the air. If they can shut down our air assets, it would be a real game changer. I just wonder . . . is what I suspect even possible? I need to talk to a software expert, and a good mechanic. Lucky for me, I just happen to know a couple of people that fit that description. Got to find Neo, Alan, and Marlon.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Alissa stands in the broom closet, taking deep breaths. She had left the light off when she came in. Somehow, the dark is comforting. The face of the patient she almost killed looms in her mind. The smells and sights of the make-shift medical ward even now sends shivers down her spine and ties her stomach in knots.

A question dominates her thoughts: What is the problem? She’s seen men die in combat. Their smoking remains in scorched armor or what’s left of a man after a direct hit from ordinance. She’s been the primary field surgeon under fire. Sutures were much harder with lead and energy wizzing by. How could she lose her composure now?

Alissa’s heart falls back into a normal rhythm. She can feel her back muscles loosen. She shakes out her hands and arms, takes one last breath, and opens the closet door.

Back to it.

 

[Psychie]

After putting in a lot of hard hours of work, everyone manages to stumble into the main cafeteria for some dinner. The portions are large, and the food is adequate to sustain life, and you are all very hangry, so everyone is diving into their food with gusto. After everyone has had a chance to eat and restore themselves, you can now compare notes on what you have learned over the past few hours.

 

[Rykon]

Alan plopped down at cafeteria table, hair still damp from a recent shower and plate loaded with whatever seafood he could find. Earlier discussion reminding him of his siblings seemed to stir old homesickness driving his food choice. This type of stuff was always dad's favorite. I sure hope mom and pops are still alright.

In an attempt to shrug off the distraction of home, he'd look to the squad and speak through his mounting fatigue. "Tanks are reloaded and back in fighting shape, best as I can tell. Any luck on the research, Neo? Boss?" Alan seemed optimistic that they could glean something, hopefully without tripping any security backlash.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan pulls out a data table and leans forward to talk quietly with the others. "I found something that looks pretty big to me, but I'm not an expert in all things mechanical and computer related, so before I take my findings to the top, I wanted to see if my fears are justified. Here, take a look at this." She taps a few spots on the tablet, then shows it to the group. "I am thinking that the attack on Anton-17 was just to disable those sentry guns on the walls, so that replacement ones would have to be sent out. Then, the raid on the convoy. It could have been much worse, but two of the Male Powered Armor units never even entered into the fight; they just took that one trailer with the guns in it and flew off."

"I am thinking that the guns themselves were not the objective, but it was the targeting hardware that they were after. If they can modify it to work with some other weapon, they could use it to shut down our air power over the Zone, depending on what they attach it to. But from what I understand of the Zentraedi, they would need some serious computer programming skills to be able to tell the hardware that it is attached to a different weapon, and they just don't have that skill under their belts. I want to know from the tech heads here, is what I'm afraid of even possible?"

 

[Psychie]

Neo's eyes stare off into the distance as she does some mental calculations. "I . . . think so. You are right that it would take some reworking of the code in the hardware to be able to adapt it to a different weapon. That kind of knowledge the Zentraedi just don't have. Then there is the issue of the mechanical linkage to whatever weapon they are trying to attach it to. That part of it is out of my area of expertise, but I am sure I could work the code and if I can, someone else can, too. But I want to know, if they did do all of this just to get the targeting computers, how did they know where to look for them in the convoy? Its not like the trucks had labels on them to identify which ones had the top secret stuff in it."

 

[Rykon]

Alan blinked trying to process the thought of jacking guns for their software. "Targetting protocols are pretty standard on our machinery. Why would these guns be special..." Alan stopped to ponder the implications for a moment. "Let's just assume these guns have specialized targetting software. If it's good enough for this pirate to both acknowledge it and actively seek it out, then it would have to be far more advanced than what they have and what is on the rest of our machinery. Something that sophisticated sounds like an A.I. driven program. I thought stuff like that was really dangerous to attach to lethal weaponry though..."

Once Neo makes her point, Alan nods, "Aye, good point. I think the top priority should be who the mole might be and making sure we coat the floors with their brain matter before they put us in any more trouble than we already have. Any effort we take to retaliate will be hamstrung until we pin them down."

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan has a sour look. "This is just prime. We are here for less than a day, and now have to take word to the Captain that there may be a spy in our midst! Either here in Anton-17, or in Brazilia Base. Just the way for us to make friends and influence people. I will have to try to get a meeting with the CO, and report it up the chain to my superiors in the GMP."

 

[Rykon]

Alan gives a pensive look, obviously somewhat skeptical on the viability of this suggestion. "You could always start with getting the First Sergeant to buy in on the theory. She's Zentraedi by blood, so there's a bit higher risk just by the numbers. If you don't want to risk that there's the Lieutenant that led the convoy. Certainly, he would want to see this situation righted, and he's also got the rank to get our CO's ear. He seems a little puffy about the tanks thing though, so he might be resistant to intel from us. Either way, I'm behind ya sarge."

[Edit]
"Oh, almost forgot. Wouldn't Lieutenant Danfield know if there was something special about the tech in those guns? That might be an easy gap to close first. Either him or one of his team should know the answer, they have to maintain the stuff after all."

 

[D. Rex]

"I was also suspecting the targeting computers. Based on what I learned. And the software of that system is very impressive. They can cleanly defend against missiles at a mere 500 feet. That has nothing to say what they can do further out. To be able to handle be that reactive and accurate is what makes those guns so effective in the first place." Marlon said.


"As for it being possible. I would say it is. So long as whatever mechanization it is connected to can match the speed of the targeting, then it would work. Even if they could reverse engineer the system. If what its connected to is too slow, then it's a worthless endeavor. The speed of AA gunners, for example are limited by the axis movement speeds of the turret and the reaction time of the gunner himself. To make full use of the system, it has to be as fast as the computer is. Or, the computer to be programmed to calculate the speed of what it is controlling."

"I would think it is entirely plausible for them to be able to make use of it. That mean pair of giant tiddies isn't stupid. She wouldn't be leading an uprising if she didn't have the capabilit of some engineers at her behest. She has her own logistics to manage. Her pods and her power armors need repair. And she needs some influx of new mecha stay in the fight. Even if she does have some huge stash of unused mecha and armor in a warehouse, she would need crews to repair and maintain and outfit them. Not to mention the resources to do that."

"Upkeep on one's forces is a serious but often overlooked aspect. If she was able to launch so many offensive strikes, she would not be doing so if attrition was what was going to be what did her in."

"Basically, if she has what it takes to maintain her forces, then she has some base of operations equipped to do so. If she has a base if operations equipped to do so, she has it staffed accordingly. If she has it staffed accordingly, then it is reasonable to assume that she has specialists at her disposal."


"Another thing... we are just viewing this as an isolated incident. It is entirely possible that this ambush to retrieve tech was not her only operation to do so. And could have retrieved other things or people to make her plan happen. Whatever it is. If she has people in less wartorn parts of the world. It would not be farfetched to thing she has access to black markets or private sponsors who could help."

"Another option I would like to put forth. Is that maybe she will use the targeting system with the guns to perhaps find a way to counter them. While it would be useful to make use of the targeting system. If their forces can find a way to blind or ignore our defenses, then that would be another large advantage."


He paused. "One thing that sort of throws a wrench in the idea... is that the defender destroid use virtually the same gun and targeting system as the phalanx defense guns. Since we have those destroids at the base... given how badly they rekt this place. It wouldn't have been terribly difficult to have made off with one of the destroids or wall guns in the heat of battle. Which would have been made all the easier if they had a mole feeding them info from in the base. And might have been less risky than ambushing a convoy, and would have netted them less casualties."


Marlon rubbed the back of his head,"Anyway I'm rambling. Long story short. It's possible to work with it. But Intel suggests that the Zentraedi forces dont have the capability to to do so very easily at all. So it would be safe to assume that if they took it with the purpose to reverse engineer the system, then they are getting outside help."

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan nods. "You are right. Proper Chain of Command and all that. I'd be a bit put off if I were her and we didn't check in with her first. What do guys think of this Lt. Danfield? Do you think he's approachable on this?"

 

[D. Rex]

"I think he his. He seems to be the type of guy to care more about his work than base politics. I'd wager he could also probably give you more specifics on the guns and targeting system, and what hurdles the Zentraedi would have to go through to work with it."

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan nods again. "Ok, we ask to talk to the 1st Sergeant and Lt. Danfield, hopefully together, and we go over our findings and see if we can't get them convinced to our way of thinking." She looks around the dining hall to see if either one is in there. "I'll send them a quick request on the base message board, and ask for a joint meeting."

 

[D. Rex]

"I dont think it would be wisest to tell higher ups how to do their jobs. They tend not to like that. A good approach might be to raise concerns, and try to find out what Intel is available to us about the Zentraedi and their operations here. We are tankers first, and I'd wager they see that too. So us playing tacticians may make it seem like we are going over our rank and being backseat commanders. So if we can push forward in this being relevant to the duties of our squad, we will probably get a less dismissive reaction. We are a recon force. after all, so we deal with scouting and information. So this line of concern shouldn't be too much of stretch if its worded right."

 

[Sherwood]

"Just remember, I'm new to this whole 'wearing a third stripe' thing myself. If you guys have any good suggestions on just what to say and how to word it just right, I'm all ears. I just don't want to risk this blowing up in our faces, with us being the new guys here. There is already a bit of resentment to our mecha from that one lieutenant, I can see that being a widely held feeling in the older RDF troops thinking we are stepping on their toes."

 

[Rykon]

Alan nodded to Marlon's point. "Sounds reasonable. Let's try and let the facts speak for themselves and phrase the opinions as concerns or curiosity. Taking this to our direct superiors shouldn't be a big political issue. That's SOP after all, or so they claim. I mean, what else is a recon squad gonna do in their free time but review the game tape?"

 

[WlfSamurai]

“No,” says Alissa plainly, tossing her spoon back into whatever gray matter made her meal. She is late to the conversation having just walked in. The day had worn her to the bone and even made her question everything that brought her here. Everything that she is. Something about this feels dangerous. And fraught. “That’s the wrong call. First, we don’t have enough. We have pieces. We don’t know there’s a mole. We assume. And if there is, narrowing it down and gaining more evidence would be better.

“Also, targeting systems and controlling defenses are way too small-time to send a strike force at a guarded convoy like that. Even if you take control a good portion of the defenses. That’s a lot of resources to commit when attrition is on the line. That’s a lot of work, too, once you have the guns. No, there’s another angle. The guns are more than hardware and software. They could be a backdoor. You get your weapon mounted and you could use that as a way onto the network. There’s more at stake than targeting data, then. Especially if you can capture live traffic. Even encrypted, more activity in certain parts of the network could give away surprise. That to me reads as something worth committing a strike team with Male Power Armor involved. One worth putting attrition on the line.”

She puts the spoon in her mouth and makes a grimace. It’s not until then Alissa realizes she was speaking to a commanding officer. Around her spoon, she says, “Ma’am.”

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan snorts. "Don't call me 'ma'am'; I work for a living. Ma'am is something you call an officer, not me. And don't apologize. I want you to speak your mind. We are all in this together, and like I said, this is my first time being in the driver's seat of a squad command. I am not perfect, with all the answers. I will make mistakes. I just hope that when I do, it won't cost us too bad."

She lets out her breath in a huff. "You are right about one thing, though. We only have pieces of this puzzle, and we need to get more of them to put the picture together. Ok, listen up. Keep your ears and eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. I will have to report my current findings with my suspicions soon, and I'm hoping to have more evidence to turn over before I do."